American West Tour

Days 1 & 2 – Aspen

The 2nd flight from Denver into Aspen was among the strangest I’ve had.  It was about the smallest airplane I’ve ever flown and I also had my brother’s dog at my feet during the whole flight.  A normally yappy small, white Havanese – Elsa had been quiet and tranquil throughout the flight.

It was our 2nd flight because no flights flew directly from Washington, DC to Aspen.  Like our first flight, the dog was stuffed into a small pet travel bag.  I occasionally heard her squirm in her confined space.  There was nobody seated near me, so I would occasionally open the top to let her head out.  It was evident, though, that the flight attendant saw me do this because she came around to remind me that the dog had to remain inside the bag.

We had been in airports and airplanes for almost 6 hours by the time we landed.  To my surprise, Elsa had not barked or had any bathroom incidents.  I think we were both relieved when we finally landed.  At baggage claim I saw my brother, who had been living there working for a ski resort.  It was nighttime, and the dog finally got to escape her confines outside the airport.

I took almost two weeks of vacation in order to take an epic road trip out west.  I had been charmed by the west during my California trip 2 years earlier and wanted more.  However, I had no idea my brother and I would traverse almost 4000 miles by the time we finished.  It was much more than planned.

Our starting point, Aspen, was at 8,000 ft elevation.  The altitude never became an issue for the entirety of the trip, even though I had been at sea level not too long ago.  Since it was late, we found a Wendy’s and caught up.

In the months prior to this trip, I entered a relationship with a woman who would eventually become my wife.  It made the trip hard to enjoy at times because I know that I left something of importance behind back in Maryland.  Part of me always wanted to go back home due to a fear that my absence would make all momentum in our relationship collapse and that it would be over by the time I returned.

This fear would be baseless, but I didn’t know it at the time.  In my mind, I also felt I needed to go on this trip because I knew that my life would change significantly in the not-too-distant future.  This trip, in a sense, was perhaps the last expression of my life as a single man.

The first couple days we spent in Aspen, where we walked among tony boutiques and expensive restaurants.  I was surprised by the absence of shops for the common man.  No 7-11 anywhere?  I honestly couldn’t understand why real estate is so expensive there.  It did not look like a place where I would want to live even with affordable housing.

Day 3 – Southwest Colorado

We finally hit the road on day 3.  The first part of our journey included visiting 3 national parks in succession.  The first was Mesa Verde National Park.  However, we would need a day to get there.  This was my first time in this area of the country and I didn’t understand the huge scale of distances there.  As we headed southwest, we went through valleys with huge, icy peaks towering above us.  I was in awe.  At some point, the elevation reached over 12,000ft, the highest elevation I ever experienced at the time.

I was amazed by the prominence of the peaks I saw.  I noticed it was colder in early April in the west than the east coast.  I was properly cold throughout the whole trip, as a matter of fact.  The rest of the trip was rather uneventful.  We stopped once to investigate an odd noise coming from the car, but found out we had a tumbleweed stuck underneath.  It was almost comical to me, having never seen a real tumbleweed before.

Day 4 – Mesa Verde National Park

This national park, while I’m sure has plenty of hiking trails and whatnot, was not too notable for me.  The mesa is definitely prominent and a site to behold.  The main feature were the cave dwellings of the Puebloan people.  I felt lucky to know that I did not have to live like them on the side of a mesa.  It didn’t look too comfortable.

We decided to hit the road again and head towards Utah.  Our route took us through northeastern Arizona and then into Utah.  Again, the expanse of these states was huge.  Hours passed until we  eventually finding a campsite near Bryce Canyon National Park, our next stop planned for the next day.  It snowed that night and camping outdoors was really cold.  My brother couldn’t take much of it and ended up sleeping the car.  I toughed it out in the tent, but I did not wake up in the best of moods.

Day 5 – Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park

Our plan this day was to stop by the Bryce Canyon National Park to pretty much stare at the brown spiky spires they have poking out of the ground.  I’m sure there are hiking trails and what not.  However, we wanted to hike the more renowned ones in nearby Zion National Park.  I was also cold, as there was still snow on the ground.

In short, we stared at the brown spiky things and left.  We went to Zion and took a shuttle to do the Angel’s Landing Hike.  This was our first real hike of the trip and my brother and I were both in ridiculously good shape.  My brother spent all winter snowboarding in Aspen and I was running and swimming at least 4 times a week.

Zion is a popular park and we pass hundreds of people on our way up.  The sun came out, melting any snow that remained on the ground from the morning.  I feel warm for the first time since I got there and enjoy myself.  My brother and I happen to be in great shape during this trip, so we literally hop past the dozens of people gingerly toeing their way up and down the trail.  I’m not sure how long it took, but we make it to Angel’s Landing and enjoy the iconic view.

I can see why this park is so popular.  Everything in this park seems to be enveloped in a rosy glow.  The only thing spoiling it were the huge number of visitors.  However, being a visitor myself it would be hypocritical to complain about this.  I hope to one day do the “Narrows” trail, which is supposedly epic.  There is no opportunity to do so on this day, though.

We leave feeling that our sense of adventure had been satisfied.  Beginning at this point, however, memories become hazy.  In order to travel our ambitious number of miles and save on lodging costs, we decide to take turns sleeping and driving to get to our next destination – Lake Tahoe.

Day 5 – Lake Tahoe and Monterey

As the sun came up we found ourselves passing some of the few legal brothels in the country on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe.  I thought that you’d have to be pretty desperate to drive all the out here to score.  As we approach Lake Tahoe, we decide to stop by.  I had only heard of Lake Tahoe in pop culture references as a vacation destination.  In late March, it was cold as fuck and I couldn’t imagine anyone swimming in it.  I would later learn that it is thousands of feet deep.  I found it an intimidating place.

My brother and I, having both slept in the car the night before, grudgingly drove many hours through the Sierra Nevada mountains, through the bucolic green hills of central California, and eventually ended up in Monterey, where we got a hotel room.  Monterey, to me, is as close to perfect a community as one could live in.  Sunny, warm, and beautiful.  I felt not a thing could go wrong in such a pristine environment.  We relax and spend a whole day there driving around.

Day 6 – John Muir Woods and PCH North

We welcome the opportunity to eat and bathe in our hotel room before setting off on another day’s adventure.  Both my brother and I have been to this part of California before, so we head north on the Pacific Coast Highway and through San Francisco on our way to Sausilito and the John Muir woods.

I had been there a couple years earlier, but was still amazed by the silence in that place.  By the time we left, we continue north on the PCH.  It is almost sunset, though, so unfortunately we do not get to bask in the views for much of the drive.

Things really get hazy at this point because at some point we decide that we both want to check out Portland – 700 miles away.  Portland, by the way, is someplace I’ve always held in high esteem even though I had never visited.  It was, at the time, the home of many of my favorite musical acts, including Stephen Malkmus, Death Cab, the Decemberists, and Modest Mouse.  So, I was eager to at least see it and get a sense of what it was all about.

We opt to drive through the night – taking turns behind the wheel.  The Bay Area to Portland is a good 12-hour drive in its most efficient route.  My brother and I, however, insisted on hugging the coast whenever possible on the drive up – making the trip significantly longer.  In retrospect, the reasoning for this was unclear considering most of the drive was done at night.

I remember the night being very uncomfortable, as it was hard to sleep.  My brother and I would switch turns driving more frequently as the night wore on and both us were really limited with our attention spans.  The continuous cycle of sleep and waking up to drive until I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer wore on me and I was quite groggy when dawn broke.  I was surprised to find out we were still in California.  Wow, what a big state!

Day 7 – Oregon

We eventually cross into Oregon.  We’re still driving route 101 going north and hugging the coastline.  Oregon struck me right away as a very humid and forested place.  It was raining periodically as we drove, as well, increasing my impression of Oregon as a wet place.  We finally get out at a random state park just to stretch our legs and let the dog out for a little bit.

Driving north on 101 in southern Oregon is fairly lonely.  About every 30 miles or so we’d pass by small communities who all seemed to offer freshly-made fudge to the tourists passing by.  There were also many references to Paul Bunyan in many of the businesses, which I thought a bit odd since I thought Paul Bunyan was more of a midwest thing.

As we pass Coos Bay, we check out the beach there.  This is definitely the bright spot of the day.  Like most beaches, I become instantly invigorated with the sights and sounds of the ocean.  We spend almost an hour there taking it in.  Elsa (the dog) has a blast running around.  I’m amazed by how expansive the beach is and how large the rock formations are in the surf.

After more driving north on 101, we realize that our allegiance to hugging the coastline was a bit foolhardy.  We had seen hours and hours of coastline and it was simply taking too long to get to Portland.  We find a pizza place, have a late lunch and eventually get onto I-5 to get into Portland.

It’s almost nighttime by the time we arrive.  We don’t know anything about the place and we find a random cafe to get food.  I’m honestly too tired at this point to even think about what my first impressions of the place.  I’m also too tired to remember clearly what else we did this day.  I know we eventually find a Motel 6 on the outskirts of town to spend the night.  In retrospect, a cheap motel in Portland probably would not offer the most sanitary of environments given Portland’s reputation as a sex trafficking hub.

However, we’re both too tired to care.

Day 8 – Portland

I’m not sure how my brother felt, but I’m still a bit hazy when I wake up.  Even though we slept in a motel, it did not entirely make up for the uncomfortable nights we spent in a car.  We try to make plans for the day.  We drive around a bit first to get an impression of the place.  Portland mostly reminded me of Chicago.

It is very leafy with lots of residential neighborhoods situated in seemingly endless blocks.  Everything from the way the streets are laid out, to the architecture, the blocks of low-lying structures, and the vibe simply reminded me of Chicago.  I would say it felt quite a bit safer than Chicago, though.  It is humid, warm and pleasant the day we visit.

After getting breakfast, we decide to go to the botanical gardens.  This is quite beautiful and reminded me much of the botanical gardens I had visited in Montreal only a year earlier.  We walk around for several hours and finally decide that it is about time to head home.  Home, of course, is back to Aspen to my brother’s place.  However, he will not call that home for much longer, either.  He will soon move out and head back to Maryland just a few weeks later.

Being on the road for this long, I believe both of us were ready to go home.  We had no fancy excursions planned at this point.  We just set the navigation towards Aspen and recoil in shock to see that it is about 1200 miles away with 18 hours of driving needed to get there.  We head east along the Columbia River.  It’s quite beautiful and I see Washington State on the other side.  However, we never cross to go there.  As the drive wears on, I see the vast expanse of eastern Oregon with its many tree farms.

As nighttime rolls around we pass Boise and find a motel near I-84.

Day 9 – Heading Home

I wake up from our roadside motel and get a whiff of the morning air.  Now, I don’t want to rag on Idaho.  I’m sure there are nice parts; however, what I remember most about Idaho was how bad it smelled.  It seemed almost as if once we crossed the Idaho state line, it started to smell and it didn’t let up until we had finished crossing and gone into Utah.  Throughout the drive, I tried to find some sort of factory or source for where the smell could have come from.  However, I did not find any and to this day don’t know why my time there was accompanied by a wretched stench.

By the afternoon we make our way to Salt Lake City.  We decide simply to go into downtown to see what it looked like.  We wanted to see the actual Great Salt Lake, but couldn’t figure out how to access its shore and gave up.  It’s an extremely clean and orderly city from what I could tell.  To this day, I remember it having a huge police presence.  I had never seen such a high density of policemen anywhere else in the country.

Following Salt Lake City, it’s a mad dash to Aspen.  We barely stop for anything and abandon plans to get a hotel for the night even though we know we wouldn’t be getting in until early the next morning.  Like our trip up the California coast, we barely sleep and alternate drivers after night falls.  As 4 am rolls around, we’re switching drivers almost every hour because neither of us can keep our eyes open for long.  I clearly remember driving the last leg from Grand Junction, CO to Aspen because the sun was coming up as we arrived.

After a shower, I’m asleep and don’t think I got up until evening.  It was a great, long and memorable trip!